I am a huge fan of Nosler bullets especially Partitions and BTs. So when Nosler came out with thier new bonded core bullet the Accubond I had to give them a try.

The rifle I used is as fallows and is my favorite all around rifle.

700 BDL in .338 Winchester magnum
Stinless Steel with Detachable Box magizine
Synthetic stock
24" barrel
This rifle is 100% factory original and has had a trigger job setting it to break at 3.5 lbs, cleanly with zero creep and over travel. I am blessed with the accuracy of this rifle as it has always shot nearly any reload I put through it well, never having shot a three shot 100 yard group above 1.5" and the only two factory loadings I ever shot through it stayed below 1.8" for a 3 shot 100yrd group.

So when I desisided to give Accubonds a try I refered to Noslers manual and came up with the fallowing:

225 grain Accubond
72.5 grains RL-19
Fed #215 LG/RFL Mag primer
LOA W/SP comparitor 3.700

I reloaded ten rounds with this bullet powder combo. I shot twenty rounds of what I consider my favorite accuracy or old faithfull reloading to get back into good shooting form as it has been 10 months since last I shot this or any rifle. That loading consists of the fallowing:

225 grain Hornady Interloks
73.3 grains RL-22
Fed #215 primer.
Winchester brass new never fired
This loading has produced countless moa or sub moa 100 yrd 3-shot groups, but is slow for my likeing.

So after I felt I had gotten my form back I gave the Accubonds a try. I fired off my first three rounds at 100 yrds. I did so not realy trying to see how big the group is, I simply try to consintrate on shooting form and aiming till Im done. I looked at my group through my 16x47x60mm Nikon spotting scope and it looked much to my disapointment as one of the three shots was off paper, while the other two were staked one atop the other. I proceeded to walk down range none to happy to varify what I thought I saw. Much to my surprise I saw after closer inspection that all three rounds formed a nice small cluster with two rounds having formed so small a hole as to appeired as one to me through the spotting scope. I measuered this group in place with my digital calipers and it measured at .715" now subtract .338" from that and gave me a .377" three shot 100yrd group. Not to bad for the first three shots of a new never fired reload.

Now I know that one group fired, a 100 yard average does not make. So insted of saving this group for my wall of fame in my reloading room I shot the remaing seven rounds at the same target. The end result was a ten shot 100 yard group that measured 1.517" minus .338 equals 1.179". But as equally immpressive is the five shot group from the same target measured 1.166" minus .338" for a .828" group. I also reloaded ten 225 grain Accubonds using 75 grains of RL-22, but the results were litterally 99% the same as with the RL-19 loading with all groups loaded with RL-22 within less than .0625 of the 3, 5, and 10 shot 100yrd groups using RL-19.

It goes without saying that I am supreamly happy with the accuracy of the new Accubonds. I plan on reloading more of the same and seeing if I can realy get this loading to shoot even better if for no other resion, but to build confidence. I will add that range conditions were less than ideal as there was a constant 10 to 15 mph cross wind that often gusted to above 20mph, temp was from 75* to a high of 78*. I will be quite interested to see what happens when after a few more trips and I have my shooting form and consintration back up to max performance what size ten shot groups I can turn out at the 100 and 200 yard rages I go to especially if I am blessed with perfect or near perfect range conditions. One last thing. I noticed that when I looked over the two targets, one using RL-19 and one using RL-22, when I placed one atop the other the groups were in 99% near identicle loacations. Ive never had that happen with any other bullet. It might mean nothing, but it does seem to indicate a high incident of consistantcy.

My experience would seem to vindicate the claims of great performance I have reading/hearing about the new Accubonds. My 20 rounds using two different powders yealding IMHO excellent accuracy given mine is a 100% factory rifle goes along way to support this.

Hope this was helpfull to someone.

Thanks for the report. I have some Accubonds in .375 and in 8mm. However, I have not fired any yet. I see no reason why they should be any less accurate that the NBT counterparts, since they seem alike in every respect except for the bonding process.

But where I expect these bullets to really shine is in their terminal performance on game, vs the NBT type.....

Yes Art, Nice report indeed. Glad to see someone is having good luck with the "RL" Series of Powders, cause they just don't work for me.

Congratulations on the Loads - especially since they were randomly picked and not worked up to.

I took my 330 Dakoto out this morning--members here suggested RL22 with the 225 accubonds (not listed in any manual I own) and I shot 2 6-shot groups measuring .6 and .73 each. No other bullet has consistantly produced the accuracy of the accubonds in my rifle and this load in particular is remarkably accurate. I killed a bull elk and a muley buck with the 225 Accubond last fall--pass through on the bull at 320 yards, recovered the bullet from the buck (shooting down on him, hit spine going in and recovered near the brisket) which retained, I think, 57%. Impact velocity was over 2900 fps and the wound channel was massive. I would have liked a pass-through but considering the velocity and the fact that expansion was immediate and violent, I guess that is to be expected. With the accuracy I'm getting I'm going to continue to use them. Fairly cheap too, considering.

Art,

Thanks for the report. I found the same thing in my 338 which has never liked the 225 grain bullets, including the Hornandys you mention. In order for me to start getting sub 1.5" groups I went to 250 grain bullets (Partitions) and have been happy with them. But I did try the 225 Accubonds when they appeared and they are now the most accurate bullet in my rifle. I use 72.0 grains H4350.

BigBullet

The 200 grain Accubonds yielded me the best accuracy I've ever gotten from my Rem 700, 300 Weatherby.


But the 140 grain .277 Accubond has not yet given me very good accuracy in my .270 Winchester, another 700 Rem, this one an early Mountain Rifle.

I have used the 225 gr. Accubond in my 338 Win Mag @ 2800 fps. to take two deer, at least 3 coyotes and a bobcat and let a friend use the rifle to take a nilgai cow.

Have yet to recover a bullet, but they all did their job quite efficiently. The does were DRT and the nilgai cow managed to run less than 75 yards. One coyote, hit between the eyes @ 245 yds. had a 3" dia. exit hole in the back of his head.

Had a few doubts that the A/B's might be a bit explosive based on performance in the two deer, both small does about 110-115# field dressed, and the coyote. Both deer were broadside lung shots, just behind shoulder so no heavy bones were involved. Entrance holes on all animals about .40 cal. but the hole inside rib cage was about 2" in diameter, indicating the front portion of the A/B had expanded rather violently on somewhat light resistance. The "entrance hole" into the opposite rib cage was probably less than 1" as was the exit hole in hide behind opposite shoulder. Suspect some of the front of the bullet was shed inside chest cavity doing massive damage to the vitals.

The nilgai was shot in some heavy brush and my bud did a good job of threading the needle. The cow was at a slight angle, he hit her just behind the shoulder and the bullet angled back to mid-rib cage where it exited making approx. 1-1 1/2" hole in hide. Couldn't weigh the cow but guess her to weigh between 325-375# live weight.

Have found the accubond to be extremely accurate in both the 338 Win. Mag and a 375 h&h. On heavy animals and/or velocities over 2900 fps I plan to fall back on the old standby partitions until I shake down the AB's a bit more. Perhaps not quite as accurate, but very dependable performance at any reasonable velocity.

Regards,
hm

The best group I've gotten with Accubonds is .208 in my 7mmRM Browning A-bolt. Bullet was a 140gr over RL22 at about 3300fps though this load looks to be a tad hot and I'm going to back it down some I tried out the 160gr Accubond CT win. supreme factory loads this past deer season and shot two does with it and have to say I was very satisfied. I'm looking forward to trying these 140s out this year, I tested one out yesterday on a crow

ART338WM what scope are you using and what is the power? Were you using a bench rest or sand bags? I have a 300 Win Mag and have gotten groups with Sierra Match Kings, Nosler Balistic Tip, & Winchester power points many of wich were less than 1/2" for 3 shots at 100 yrds. I am currently going to try the Barnes 150gr Tripple shock but also want to try the Nosler Accubonds. I had some lousey luck with the performance of the Balistic Tip's on Deer. I killed 2 of them but they did not drop fast enough for my liking they slowed down walked about 25ft laid down but kept looking up at me. It may have been the fact that they were on a dead run at over 100yrds when I hit them and may have not had the best bullet placement.

Please keep us posted on your results with the Nosler Accubonds on your group size and how effective they are on Deer size game.
Magnums rule

SNOWCAT,

Was there massive wounds channel in the elk as well? if so, how many pounds of meat was lost?